Flail Mower Flail Mower Condition Assessment

Wooley Booger · May 17, 2011

There is a Ford 917 flail mower being advertised at an upcoming local auction. It has been used alot - many dings and is missing some flail blades, but I am trying to assess the bigger picture and determine if it is even in operable condition and worthy of bidding on. Any recommendations on what to look for? Thanks for your input!

WB

leonz · May 17, 2011

Wooley Booger said:
There is a Ford 917 flail mower being advertised at an upcoming local auction. It has been used alot - many dings and is missing some flail blades, but I am trying to assess the bigger picture and determine if it is even in operable condition and worthy of bidding on. Any recommendations on what to look for? Thanks for your input!

WB

Spin the rotor by hand with the P.T.O., shaft and
you will be able to determine its condition quickly.

You most likely will need belts and as long as you
grease it with 6 or 7 pumps per mowing session or
every 4 hours you will be fine with it.

You can buy all the spare parts and knives
you need for the mower from flailmaster and
other vendors as well as Ford.

You can always sell it on Craigs List later
if you dont want to own it as many folks are
looking for used flail mowers.

Wooley Booger · May 17, 2011

So I might be looking for a bent rotary shaft, or if the unit is locked up and unable to rotate at all?

leonz · May 17, 2011

Possibly, but very unlikely with a finish mower
flail rotor,and if it spins you have a win win:thumbsup:

.

greg_g · May 17, 2011

I bought a 74 inch 917H at a farm machinery auction for $150, figuring I could get some of that back even if I sold it for scrap metal. Turns out to have been an intuitive purchase, as I was able to rebuild it for less than $350. Still needs a paint job, but it's in as good a mechanical condition now as if I'd gone out and bought one for new price (which I understand might have been somewhere north of $5000). That said, the basic 917 isn't quite as sturdy as the 917H ("H" representing heavy duty). Even so, the housing on that one in your photo looks to be in comparatively good shape.

//greg//